Russia repeats call for embassies to leave Kyiv after drone strike near Polish border

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, September 15, repeated its call for foreign embassies to evacuate from Kyiv — two days after a Russian drone attacked a passenger train near the Polish border.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the warning, first issued last spring, “remains relevant,” and urged Western politicians and diplomats to “soberly assess the existing risks” of traveling to Ukraine. She said railway hubs and transport infrastructure supporting the needs of the Ukrainian military are legitimate targets from Moscow’s perspective.

Zakharova also clarified that the reason for reaffirming the warning was requests from Western governments asking for safe passage for “political tourists” visiting Ukraine — requests that Moscow rejected.

The train strike that prompted the warning

A Russian drone struck a passenger locomotive in the early hours of Sunday, September 13, near Yahodyn in Ukraine’s Volyn region — approximately two kilometers from the Polish border. The strike came shortly after another train carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, and security advisers from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany had passed through the area. There were no casualties.

Johnson wrote on X that the attack reflected “the kind of random and senseless strikes that Ukrainians endure every day — even on civilian railways.” Bildt posted a video of the damaged train being evacuated and stated that “Russian attacks against Ukraine are intensifying.” The delegation was returning from Kyiv, where it had attended the Yalta European Strategy conference. Poland and Ukraine accused Russia of “escalation” following the strikes near the border.

Baltic Sea incident

Also on Tuesday, Moscow warned Denmark after a Russian frigate fired two flare rockets that flew within several meters of a Danish military helicopter conducting a routine patrol mission in the Baltic Sea. Danish Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus called the incident a “gross violation of maritime culture,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described it as a manifestation of “Russia’s intensifying hybrid war against Europe.”

Russia’s initial call for embassies to leave Kyiv was made back in May, linked to warnings of retaliatory strikes on the capital. Many countries continue to advise their citizens against traveling to Ukraine: the U.S. State Department maintains a Level 4 — “Do Not Travel” advisory, and Australia’s Smartraveller website publishes a similar recommendation, citing an unstable security situation. Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to civilian aviation since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.